Chiang Mai Field School, May 25 – June 26, 2025
From May 25 to June 26, 2025, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa supported an on-site field school in northern Thailand as part of the LuceSEA Transitions project. In partnership with the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Chiang Mai University, the program brought together students, researchers, practitioners, and community members to explore sustainable agriculture, landscape change, and Indigenous knowledge in upland Southeast Asia.
The LuceSEA CMU-UHM Collaborative Environmental Transitions Field School is one component of a five-year LuceSEA initiative co-directed by Dr. Mary Mostafanezhad (Geography and Environment, UH Mānoa), Dr. Micah Fisher (Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution – School of Communication and Information, UH Mānoa), Dr. Ming Li Yong (East-West Center), and Dr. Krisna Suryanata (Geography and Environment, UH Manoa). The Chiang Mai Field School was also co-directed by Dr. Chaya Vaddhanaphuti (RCSD, Chiang Mai University).
Participants of the field school focused on two Karen villages — Ban Nong Tao and Ban Huay E Kang in Northern Thailand — where they joined residents in activities such as forest walks, planting rice and craft making in addition to informal interviews and group discussions. In Ban Nong Tao, they explored water use, irrigation practices, and new economic opportunities as villagers adapted away from rotational farming. In Ban Huay E Kang, the focus turned to craft production, the role of women and their knowledge in supporting household livelihoods, and concerns about changes of state policies on protected areas.
The field school emphasized long-term engagement and mutual learning between the village and scholar communities. Conversations extended beyond formal settings—spilling into rice fields, home gardens, and over shared meals—where local knowledge was not only observed, but also exchanged and discussed as part of a learning process.
The field school curriculum included five phases critical in doing research: 1) an online seminar to introduce key literatures in agrarian change and environmental transition; 2) an in-person seminar to introduce researchers and their work in the study areas; 3) a research design workshop mentored by several experienced Southeast Asian scholars; 4) a two-week data gathering time in the study sites; and 5) a data analysis and research communication workshop. The field school culminated in a one-day symposium at the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) of Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The workshops at Chiang Mai University created a space for reflection, peer input, and articulation and refinement of research questions, and helped early career researchers develop professional skills while building an inter-disciplinary network of SEA researchers. Together, these activities emphasized the program’s commitment to research as a dialogic process rooted in collaboration and community engagement.
By centering dialogue, reciprocity, and place-based inquiry, the Chiang Mai Field School offers a model for rethinking how research is done—not only in Southeast Asia, but in any setting where respectful collaboration and shared learning matter.
Related Exhibition
Research from the Chiang Mai Field School has also been developed into the exhibition Environmental Biographies of Southeast Asia: Collaborative Learning in the Field, now on view at Hamilton Library, UH Mānoa throughout Fall 2025. The exhibition brings together stories of forests, rivers, livelihoods, and migration from Chiang Mai (Thailand), South Sulawesi (Indonesia), and Hawaiʻi, created through collaborative student fieldwork.